2015 Otto Vowinkel SP/CSAR

This 2015 Otto Vowinkel is a concert classical guitar with a spruce top and CSA rosewood back and sides, made by hand in his workshop in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, French polished, with Sloane tuners.

A Compact Body and an Efficient Build

His instruments are among the most lightweight of anything in our inventory, likely the result of a slightly more compact body size and efficient use of materials. It is incredibly easy to play, ultra-responsive and very powerful.

Spruce and Silky, Aged Rosewood

The materials on this guitar are stunning: a beautiful piece of spruce for the soundboard, and dramatic, aged rosewood with a silky texture for the back and sides. As always, the workmanship is to the highest standards, and it gives the guitar a unique aesthetic flair.

Details from Amsterdam

The rosette is Otto’s own design: herringbone purfling surrounds a mosaic taken from the flag of the city of Amsterdam. The headstock is carved in the style of the building in Amsterdam where Otto houses his workshop, and the MOP dot at the top represents a “winch” – something seen on Amsterdam’s canal houses: a hook-and-pulley system used to hoist furniture and goods through the large windows, because the buildings have narrow, steep staircases inside (see photo).

A Plump, Lyrical Tone

The shellac finish, using the traditional French polish method, is done with great care and adds a beautiful luster to the finished instrument. The tuners are by Sloane. Huge volume with little right-hand effort – thanks to the slightly more compact body – and a plump and lively tone, very lyrical and beautiful at the same time. At the time, we believed it to be his best-sounding model yet.

In the Hands of Concert Artists

Concert and recording artists such as Denis Azabagic, Esther Steenbergen and the Amsterdam Guitar Trio have played Vowinkel guitars. Tariq Harb – winner of the 2011 Barrios World Wide Web Competition and the 2011 Montreal International Classical Guitar Competition – is one of several competition winners who play them, along with Chia-Wei Lin, a Taiwanese guitarist who took 1st prize in Singapore, and Sanel Redzic, a young Bosnian guitarist who won in Vienna and Oberhausen with a cedar Vowinkel.

Otto Vowinkel: Classical Guitar Maker in Amsterdam

Otto Vowinkel grew up in a family of tailors in the old center of Amsterdam. He came to the guitar as a player, and in 1984 – with no teacher, a few basic tools and Irving Sloane’s book Classical Guitar Construction – he built his first guitar in the attic of his house. He learned by showing each new guitar to every guitarist he could find and building the next one with their comments in mind.

Traditional Spanish Building and French Polish

In 1989 Otto met his future wife, the Dutch guitarist Esther Steenbergen, and the Andalusia-based Dutch maker Alex van der Horst (“Alejandro”, 1959–2009), with whom he worked regularly and shared his ideas about the ideal guitar: a flexible tone, a quick response, and quality of sound as the carrier of volume. Otto builds in the traditional way and is a specialist in French polish, on which he now gives lectures and workshops. His rosettes carry the colors of the flag of Amsterdam.

Concert Guitars and Student Models

Besides his concert classical guitars, Otto makes flamenco guitars, quart guitars and fifth-bass (baritone) guitars. He has also designed student models that are handmade in small workshops in Spain under his supervision. You can read more in our article on Otto Vowinkel.